Tag Archive for: #warrencountynews

VGCC Hosting CCP Information Sessions For High School Students, Parents

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-Press Release, Vance-Granville Community College 

High school students and their parents are being given the opportunity to learn more about how eligible students can earn college credits for free while still enrolled in high school. Vance-Granville Community College has scheduled a series of sessions offering information on the “Career & College Promise” (CCP) program.

CCP allows the students to earn college credits towards a college degree, diploma or certificate while still in high school, without having to pay college tuition.

Attendees will learn about the requirements of the program and the steps to apply for admission in CCP. This information will help students prepare to enroll and register for classes in the upcoming Spring Semester starting in January and the Summer Term starting next May at Vance-Granville.

These information sessions will be held from 6 to 7 p.m. on these dates: Monday, Oct. 22, at the Main Campus between Henderson and Oxford (Building 8, Conference Room); Tuesday, Oct. 23, at South Campus between Butner and Creedmoor (Room G1131); Thursday, Oct. 25, at Warren County Campus in Warrenton (Building 4, Room W4103); and Monday, Oct. 29, at Franklin Campus in Louisburg (Multipurpose Room, F4101).

VGCC’s Career & College Promise pathways lead to students acquiring entry-level job skills and/or credits that transfer to four-year universities. Students who select the College Transfer (CT) option will take general education courses that transfer seamlessly to any of the 16 public universities in the University of North Carolina system or participating private colleges or universities. VGCC currently offers two CT Pathways with a prescribed set of courses: the Associate in Arts and the Associate in Science.

VGCC’s Career & Technical Education (CTE) Pathways allow students to potentially earn certificates in more than 20 areas, including: Administrative Assistant, Heating & Air, Bioprocess, Business Management, Carpentry, Cosmetology, Criminal Justice, Culinary Arts, Early Childhood, Electronics Engineering, Information Technology, Medical Office Administration, Paralegal, Robotics, and Simulation & Game Development; and diplomas in Carpentry, Electrical Systems, Information Technology, Paralegal and Welding.

Students and parents from anywhere in the four-county service area are invited to attend the CCP meeting of their choice and are not limited to attending the campus in their county.

For more information, contact Lyndon Hall at (252) 257-1900 or halll@vgcc.edu.

More information on the CCP program, including a Pathway Guide, is available at www.vgcc.edu/HighSchoolStudents/index.

U.S. Department of Justice

‘Project Safe Neighborhoods’ & ‘Take Back NC’ Making Communities Safer

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-Press Release, U.S. Department of Justice

One year ago, the Department of Justice announced the revitalization and enhancement of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), which Attorney General Sessions has made the centerpiece of the Department’s violent crime reduction strategy. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

Throughout the past year, we have partnered with all levels of law enforcement, local organizations, and members of the community to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.

“Project Safe Neighborhoods is a proven program with demonstrated results,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said. “We know that the most effective strategy to reduce violent crime is based on sound policing policies that have proven effective over many years, which includes being targeted and responsive to community needs. I have empowered our United States Attorneys to focus enforcement efforts against the most violent criminals in their districts and directed that they work together with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and community partners to develop tailored solutions to the unique violent crime problems they face. Each United States Attorney has prioritized the PSN program, and I am confident that it will continue to reduce crime, save lives, and restore safety to our communities.”

“During the course of my over 25 years as a federal prosecutor, I have seen the dramatic impact that PSN can have on reducing violent crime in our communities. Following the Attorney General’s lead, we directed the revitalization of the PSN program in this District and have fully staffed it with aggressive and skilled prosecutors who can take on these violent criminals, and those who would victimize our citizens and local businesses. To reduce violent crime and remove drug traffickers from our neighborhoods, our efforts must be real on the streets of the cities, towns, and counties across the District and cannot just be a re-emphasis from Raleigh. As such, in March of this year, we implemented the Take Back North Carolina Initiative to mold our PSN program to address the specific violent crime problems that exist in eastern North Carolina.”

Take Back North Carolina is a partnership between the United States Attorney’s Office, District Attorney’s offices, and federal, state and local law enforcement agencies across the 44 counties of the district to combat violent crime, drug trafficking and crimes against law enforcement. This partnership includes 44 Sheriffs, 188 Police Departments, and 15 elected District Attorneys, and utilizes the regional assignment of Assistant United States Attorneys, strategic targeting, decentralized case intake authority, and public messaging. Regional prosecution teams have been given the responsibility of working directly with law enforcement on a sustained basis to reduce violent crime by targeting those organizations and individuals responsible for the increased violent crime rates and for introducing the poison of illegal drugs into those particular communities. Take Back North Carolina allows the entire district to have the full range of enforcement tools available through the federal court system, allows the regional teams to quickly route matters to federal court when prosecution in that venue would deliver the most significant impact, and protects and supports law enforcement officers who face unacceptable threat levels as they enforce the law.

As we celebrate the one-year anniversary of the revitalized PSN program, here are some of the highlights of our PSN actions over the past year:

Enforcement Actions

• Warren T. Baker was sentenced to 408 months in federal prison in August 2018 for his armed robbery of a Starbucks in Fayetteville, NC, during which he confronted employees at gunpoint. Baker had a prior federal conviction for armed bank robbery.

• Kelly Shadrome Anderson was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison in September 2018 after pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. Fleeing an altercation during which he fired a gun in Wilson, NC, Anderson took a 4-year-old child hostage inside a nearby house. Anderson had prior felony convictions for selling cocaine, breaking and entering, and assault on a female.

• Charlie O’Bryant Terry was sentenced to 240 months in federal prison in July 2018 for obstruction of justice and illegal possession of a firearm. Terry assaulted and robbed a couple at gunpoint in Vance County – placing a pistol in one victim’s mouth, and cutting the other victim’s head by repeatedly hitting him with the firearm. Terry had a prior federal conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

• Joseph Luther Lewis was sentenced to 151 months in federal prison in August 2018 for possession of a firearm by felon and possession of a stolen firearm. After having a gunfight with a drug dealer in Fayetteville, NC, Lewis traveled to Robeson County and forcibly abducted his girlfriend at gunpoint – kicking and punching her when she attempted to escape. Lewis had prior felony convictions for possession with the intent to manufacture, sell, and deliver marijuana and conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon.

• David Kareem Turpin was sentenced to 240 months in federal prison in August 2018 for Hobbs Act robbery and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. Turpin robbed Walmart, Food Lion, and Family Dollar stores in Raleigh, NC during which he brandished a firearm and abducted and threatened employees.

• John Devere Battle was sentenced to 1,272 months in federal prison this month for robbing several convenience stores in Cary, NC, as well as his role in committing a home invasion during which the victims were robbed, tied up, pistolwhipped, threatened, and forced to withdraw money from a bank. Battle had prior felony convictions for breaking and entering and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

News releases are available on the U.S. Attorney’s webpage at www.usdoj.gov/usao/nce. Follow us on twitter @USAO_EDNC.

Duke Energy

Duke Energy Restores Power to Majority of Local Area

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-Information courtesy Tanya Evans, District Manager, Duke Energy

Duke Energy has made tremendous progress in restoring customers’ power yesterday and this morning. I am pleased to report that we have restored power to most, and in some areas all, of our customers in Person, Vance, Granville, Warren and Franklin Counties. However, we are not letting our guard down. We will continue to work until every customer is back on, and if any additional outages occur, we still have the crews in place to respond if necessary.

I encourage you to check the online outage maps for information about any remaining outages.

Backed by more than 10,000 people from the Carolinas and at least 7 other states, we have restored more than 1.1 million customers in less than 4 days. A photo gallery has been created to show Tropical Storm Michael’s damage and restoration efforts across the Carolinas. It is available here – click on ‘Scenes from Hurricane Michael’ to view the images.

Tanya Evans

District Manager

Duke Energy

National Weather Service

Total Rainfall Amounts From Tropical Storm Michael

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-Information courtesy Brian K. Short, Director of Emergency Operations, Henderson-Vance County Emergency Operations

The National Weather Service – Raleigh recently completed an analysis of 887 rain gauge sites across the state of North Carolina, looking at total rainfall associated with Tropical Storm Michael.  The map below is the result of this analysis and shows total rainfall during October 11-12, 2018.

The data for each of the sites was quality-checked for accuracy, and sites were only included if there was no missing data during the aforementioned time frame.

State Highway Patrol Announces ‘Operation Stop Arm’

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-Press Release, North Carolina Department of Public Safety

While many schools across the state have been in operation for more than two months, the State Highway Patrol is taking proactive steps to ensure school bus safety is not overlooked.

Beginning Monday, October 15, troopers statewide will participate in Operation Stop Arm, a week-long event held each year.  Objectives of the campaign include an increase in educational programs and enforcement in and around school zones.  Throughout the week, troopers will ride on school buses and use unmarked vehicles to monitor bus routes to and from school.

“Every child should be afforded a safe means of travel as they attend their respective educational institution”, said Colonel Glenn McNeill Jr., commander of the State Highway Patrol.  “While this operation is scheduled to conclude on Friday, our efforts will continue throughout the school year.”

In partnership with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University, a PSA has been produced to raise public awareness regarding school bus safety.  The message can be located by visiting the SHP’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/122457348546/posts/10156132596588547/

Duke Energy

Duke Energy Update: 27K+ Without Power Locally, Restoration Could Take Days

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-Information courtesy Tanya Evans, District Manager, Duke Energy

After an intense evening of wind and rain, Duke Energy has restored power to 180,000 customers in the Carolinas in the wake of Tropical Storm Michael. This morning, over 430,000 customers remain without power in the Carolinas. You can always check our outage map<https://www.duke-energy.com/outages/current-outages> for county-specific information, but currently, here are the outage numbers in the local district:

  • Caswell – 5,849
  • Edgecombe – 190
  • Franklin – 5,749
  • Granville – 8,832
  • Halifax – 425
  • Nash – 5,080
  • Person – 5,485
  • Vance – 9,351
  • Warren – 3,459
  • Wilson – 26

We will provide estimated power restoration times once field crews complete damage assessments, which could take up to 24 hours. Some outages could take several days to repair.

6,000 workers – including power line technicians, damage assessors and tree specialists – are responding to the storm’s impact in the Carolinas. Additional repair crews from Florida and the Midwest are traveling to the Carolinas to assist.

For the latest storm or power restoration updates, visit https://www.dukeenergyupdates.com/michael/carolinas – or follow Duke Energy on Twitter (@DukeEnergy) and Facebook (Duke Energy).

Powerline safety:

  • Stay away from power lines that have fallen or are sagging.
  • Consider all power lines – as well as trees, limbs and anything else in contact with power lines – energized and dangerous.
  • If a power line falls across a car that you’re in, stay in the car. If you MUST get out of the car due to a fire or other immediate life-threatening situation, do your best to jump clear of the car and land on both feet. Be sure that no part of your body is touching the car when your feet touch the ground.

Click here<https://illumination.duke-energy.com/articles/what-happens-when-something-touches-a-power-line> for a video about power line safety. You are welcome to share this on your social media channels.

Outage reporting:

Customers who experience an outage during the storm can report it by:

  •  Visiting www.duke-energy.com on a desktop computer or mobile device.
  • Texting OUT to 57801 (standard text and data charges may apply).
  • Calling the automated outage-reporting system at
  • DEC: 1-800-POWERON (1-800-769-3766)
  • DEP: 800.419.6356<tel:800.419.6356

Thank you for your patience and partnership as we work to restore power as quickly and safely as possible

UPDATE: All Campuses of VGCC CLOSED Today

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-Information courtesy Vance-Granville Community College

Updated message from VGCC:

This message updates the announcement posted earlier about VGCC opening later today.

As of 8:30 a.m. all classes are canceled at all campuses, the Child Care Centers are closed and employees have an optional workday.

All Campuses of VGCC to Open at 9 a.m.

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-Information courtesy Vance-Granville Community College

All campuses of Vance-Granville Community College open at 9 a.m. today, Friday, October 12.

Cardinal Innovations Healthcare

Cardinal Innovations Collecting School Supplies for Students Affected by Florence

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Elliot Clark, senior community executive for Cardinal Innovations Healthcare, and Amanda Burrafato, marriage and family therapist and substance abuse counselor with Recovery Innovations, were the guests of honor on Thursday’s edition of WIZS’ Town Talk program.

Clark announced that Cardinal Innovations has partnered with Trillium Health Resources in eastern NC to purchase 1,000 bookbags for special education students affected by Hurricane Florence. Today through Tuesday, October 16, the organization is requesting the public’s help in filling these bookbags with much-needed school supplies.

Requested supplies include pencils, wide-ruled notebooks, markers, crayons, glue sticks and prepackaged snacks. Donations may be brought to the Cardinal Innovations office located at 134 S. Garnett St. in Henderson on weekdays from now until Tuesday between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m.

In regard to their decision to focus efforts on students in the Exceptional Children’s program, Clark responded, “Relief efforts across the state have been impressive, but there are certain pockets of the population that need a little more concentration and this is one of them.”

The local five-county branch of Cardinal Innovations works with the Vance, Granville, Franklin, Warren and Halifax communities and providers to cover mental health, developmental disabilities and substance abuse services for Medicaid.

“Large in part, we cover services and we pay providers to do the work. We do the work as far as community service, care coordination, advocacy and education, but the treatment component depends on the providers,” said Clark.

One such valued provider, according to Clark, is Recovery Innovations located at 300 W. Parkview Dr. in Henderson. Recovery Innovations offers facility-based crisis and non-hospital detox services to residents on a 3-7 day stay basis.

“We are step number one,” said Burrafato. “We’re the mental health/substance abuse version of a hospital stopping the bleeding. We’re keeping people safe, restarting medication and allowing them to get sober. We get you safe and get you connected to the next stop.”

According to Burrafato, addiction is often the result of the addict battling depression or using inherited coping strategies. “A lot of times when we see someone who is addicted, it is someone who has gone through traumatic events or they are trying to run from depression.”

“Often times it is also hereditary,” Burrafato said. “What we see are generations of people learning to cope using substances and using patterns that have been ingrained.”

Burrafato said each person’s case is different and her organization prides itself on offering a choice. “People are meeting with doctors, our RN, our peer support workers and people who are in recovery themselves. Throughout, they are developing a plan that is unique to them.”

To further assist with the area’s mental health and substance abuse needs, a Wellness Alliance associated with Vance, Granville and Franklin community partners has been established. The group meets every other month on the fourth Tuesday at 1 p.m. at the Cardinal Innovations Healthcare office in Henderson.

“Leadership from Recovery Innovations – Amanda in particular – has helped put together a more outreaching Wellness Alliance. They go out to different organizations and county departments to get a sense of the needs and respond to those needs with training or particular services,” said Clark.

One such area of need is additional assistance battling the crippling opioid crisis. “The conversation [on opioids] is not discriminating against who it is reaching anymore,” said Burrafato. “It can start with a car accident or a doctor’s prescription and before long it is spiraling out of control.”

“It doesn’t discriminate against age, race or creed. Shining a spotlight on the opioid crisis has made the conversation more available to the community.”

VGCC Closing Early; Scholarship Dinner Postponed

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-Information courtesy Vance-Granville Community College

Due to the threat of inclement weather, all campuses of Vance-Granville Community College will be closing at 10:30 a.m. today, Thursday, October 11.

The Scholarship Awards Dinner scheduled for tonight will be postponed to a later date.